Journal Three - Brooke

Active reading so far is going pretty smoothly. I find it easy to highlight sentences that are important to the story line as well as a good metaphor. There is no shortage of metaphors in these stories. My only struggle thus far has been keeping up with all the characters that have been introduced in both books.

I think the biggest strengths in The House On Mango Street are the use of fragments. These fragments seem simple but they add so much emphasis to the story and keeps it interesting. Another strength is shown in the dialogue. Cisneros captures how children actually speak by not using proper grammar. The biggest strength Beah has is how she is able to explain the severity of war and effectively use metaphors to allow the reader to be able to paint a picture for the scene. I prefer The House On Mango Street because of how the fragments add to the story.

A theme in Beah's book is paranoia. Beah's writing explains the situation in great detail and creatively. The author explains how people are dealing with the war and even says, "People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy. Even people who knew you became extremely careful of how they related or spoke to you" (pg. 37).